Underwater Heritage Association on the trail of another wreck

The Underwater Heritage Association has reported an interesting discovery it made while analyzing archival materials.

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Analyzing the collected materials, Michal Ogłoza came across a report from the second half of the 19th century, which tells the story of the sinking of a large merchant vessel.

The end of the year, although very busy due to professional matters, allowed me to find a moment of time, which I devoted to verifying materials obtained during an autumn search in one of the German archives. Careful analysis allowed me to pick out a real gem that would make the heart beat faster for anyone who is close to the subject of Baltic wrecks. Especially the unknown ones, which are still waiting for their discoverer,” we read on the association’s website.

This gem is a report on a maritime disaster that happened almost 150 years ago. The document was written before the Chamber of the Sea at the Maritime Office in Königsberg (Königsberg, today’s Kaliningrad). The report concerns the sinking of a large two-masted brig-type vessel, which was sailing from the British Sunderland to the Prussian Memel (now Klaipeda). As a result of damage sustained during a storm, the ship sank and its wreck rests today near the Polish coast.

I was curious about this story, so much so that I found this vessel in a German ship register published 150 years ago. The vessel was wooden, built more than 180 years ago, with a cargo capacity of almost 200 łaszt or otherwise almost 400 tons. To give an idea of the size of this vessel, I would add that the Polish brig Frederic Chopin has a displacement of 400 tons with a hull length of 44 meters and a draft of 3.8 meters, so the vessel in question had similar parameters (during the fateful voyage, the draft of the vessel with cargo was 15 feet – about 4.57 meters).

From the information it has made available Underwater Heritage Association, it appears that the report contains information on the site of the sinking. Among them are the distance from the shore, bearings on landmarks on the coast, as well as the depth at which the brig came to rest.Based on these data there is a potential chance to find the wreck.

If anyone would be interested in devoting their time and money to the search – you are welcome. I can’t guarantee anything, however, didn’t Virgil write over 2,000 years ago: Audaces fortuna iuvat? Fortune favors the bold!

Diving is also about discovering wrecks and their unusual stories. You can learn about one of them in an article written by Michal Ogłoza. You will find it in the 20th issue DIVERS24 quarterly! The digital version of the magazine is available free of charge, while you can purchase the printed version in our online store.